Recent attention has been directed to naturally stimulating the human body to produce stem cells. Stem cells not only combat disease, they also contribute to health maintenance and reduce the effects of injury and aging. Dietary supplements containing blue-green algae can aid in the body's natural production of stem cells as well as provide the essential vitamins, minerals, proteins and nutrients required to support life. One form of blue-green algae known as Aphanizomenon flos-aqua (AFA) is particularly effective in stimulating natural stem cell production within the body while also providing the vitamins, minerals, proteins and nutrients required to support life.
Some dietary supplements combine AFA with supplemental phycocyanin to reduce or prevent inflammation caused by injury, arthritis and/or irritants. Phycocyanin can be extracted directly from AFA and provided in the form of a concentrated supplement to AFA. Alternatively, phycocyanin can be provided in the less costly form of Arthrospira platentis (AP) which contains about 19% to 20% by weight of phycocyanin.
Another supplement that has been added to AFA is phenylethylamine (PEA) such as in the form of PEA hydrochloride. PEA has been found, when combined with AFA, to reduce depression and increase or promote alertness.
Stem cell production can also be naturally enhanced within the human body by ingesting certain brown algae and/or brown seaweed. In particular, a brown algae derivative called fucoidan has been found to promote stem cell production and can be taken alone or in combination with AFA. A benefit of fucoidan is that it contains about 60% by weight of desirable polysaccharides while AFA contains about 20% by weight of polysaccharides. Accordingly, fucoidan, when ingested, provides more polysaccharides per unit weight than AFA allowing for smaller dosages while providing the same amount of polysaccharides as larger dosages of relatively expensive AFA.
Unfortunately, the availability of both AFA and fucoidan is limited and variable. There are a very limited number of suppliers of AFA and fucoidan, and as the popularity and demand for these dietary supplements has increased in recent times, the cost of AFA and fucoidan has likewise risen. Moreover, the supply of these supplements is subject to the amount of AFA and fucoidan that can be harvested from season to season. This combination of factors makes it difficult to provide a consistent supply of dietary supplements containing AFA and/or fucoidan to the marketplace.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to find a more readily available dietary supplement for enhancing stem cell production and promoting health. It would also be desirable to find a less costly dietary substitute or combination of dietary substitutes for AFA and/or fucoidan and other supplements which are known to stimulate stem cell growth when ingested as a dietary supplement.